?'s about rashes, liners, synthetics, and who knows what else. Help Me!!!

Instead of starting a million different threads, I figured I'd just ask all my crazy questions here and hope that someone can help me with them all!

So, I've been cloth diapering full time for about 3 to 4 months now. I love every second of it and have been really lucky not to have any laundering or major skin issues as of yet. But I think my luck *may* be running out. I'm gonna try to make these questions flow as best as I can...

I have a huge variety of diapers in our stash. Around the house we use natural fibers like prefolds, flats, and fitteds. Sometimes we use PUL and wool covers as well, but try to go coverless as much as possible. When going out we primarily use BG AIO's with the occasional trifold PF with a PUL cover. When we started CD'ing at night we used BGOS (suedecloth) stuffed with a Hemp Babies Bigger Weeds. This worked awesome for awhile, but then we started having leaking issues. We switched to the BG Flips with the Organic Inserts and that's been working awesome!

We've never had stink issues, but oh my gosh, in the morning You can smell that diaper from a mile away. The only other time we have major stink is after there are several diapers in the diaper pail. I've tried baking soda, leaking the lid off, and am waiting on some BG Odor Remover. Not too worried about this though.

I've been noticing that DS has been red at almost every diaper change lately. Not in a major diaper rash way, but red enough for DF to mention it. The thing is I'm completely lost as to what could be causing it. We use a flushable liner much of the time. I don't know if that's, if it's the suedecloth of the BGs, the microfleece of the AppleCheeks, if I'm letting him stay in his diaper too long, if it's thrush, if it's the cloth wipes, if it's the sposie wipes goodness I have no idea! Everytime I try to do an elimination type thing, the rash always finds its way back. Any suggestions?

Last question, I promise! I found an awesome deal on a diaper sprayer and am contemplating it. However I've recently found the love for liners. If I use liners do I really need a sprayer? I know everyone says it was one of their best buys, but if it's just going to sit there because the liners will do the job I don't want to waste the money.

Re: ?'s about rashes, liners, synthetics, and who knows what else. Help Me!!!

OK first of all, what kind of sposie wipes are you using? My ds has a really REALLY bad reaction to Huggies, and I know of several other babies who also have reactions to Huggies. That said, how long is he left in the diapers? In natural fabrics ds can only be in them for 1-2 hours at the most or he gets red.

Re: ?'s about rashes, liners, synthetics, and who knows what else. Help Me!!!

If you are using liners and are happy with that you really don't have any use for a sprayer. We don't use liners and don't use are sprayer very often but it does come in handy if the poop doesn't shake off. The redness could be: the suedecloth from the bgs. My dd did fine in bgs for like a month then started getting red from them, even after stripping them. Could be the sposie wipes since there are chemicals in it. I know my dd is sensitive to the ones with fragrance. And you could be keeping the diaper on too long. We change every 1 1/2-2 hours. I hope this helps!

Re: ?'s about rashes, liners, synthetics, and who knows what else. Help Me!!!

I'm gonna try to answer those questions guys, bear with me:

When I have him in fitteds I change him as soon as I notice that he's wet. Fitteds rarely last more than 2 hours on him, unless he's on a pee strike lol.

With pockets and AIO's, he usually goes a full 3 hours. We typically on wear them when going out, and while I try to change right before leaving and as soon as we get home, it's easy to get side tracked.

Nights, he goes 10-12 hours.

I will shamefully admit that I think I'm guilty of leaving diapers on too long...possible problem #1.

For sposie wipes we use Pampers Swaddlers Sensitive. I cannot stand sposie wipes, but do use them on occasion. I have some cloth wipes that I made but I don't like. I have flannel/ploy-sherpa blend that's way too crunchy, a flannel/cotton velour that's okay but still not super soft, and a flannel/bamboo terry that I really like. I have some OBV that I need to have someone make into wipes for me. I HATE flannel on wipes. So while I use cloth wipes, I think they may be too harsh on him. I just got the BG Bottom Cleaner, and was using a wipes bits I got as a sample from sewcraftybaby.

I'm thinking maybe my diapers need to be stripped. I don't notice any issues, but we have super hard well water. I do use calgon every load, and use Allen's or Rockin' Green (just started using that- only 1 load so far), stay away from fabric softeners/dryer sheets, and I make sure to use liners when using creams.

Should I strip? If yes, should I strip with calgon or dawn or just lots of hot rinses??

Re: ?'s about rashes, liners, synthetics, and who knows what else. Help Me!!!

To deal with the smells and the leaking, I would try stripping your diapers inserts and diapers. They could have build-up of some sort that is causing them to leak and smell. If your baby is a bit older, the smelly diapers could also be due to smelly toddler pee - as my ds is getting older, I've noticed his pee is more concentrated, as he is taking in less liquids and peeing less frequently (could particularly be causing smelliness in the overnight diaper). The redness could be due to being in a diaper too long (as you mentioned), but it could also be a sensitivity to detergent (or detergent build-up) or a sensitivity to fabric (as some babies do develop them).

I would start with stripping your diapers and then plan to change him as soon as he is wet. Then see if the rash persists and you can move on to rule out other issues. FWIW, I've tried Rockin' Green - I know everyone raves about it, but I have super soft water and didn't feel like my diapers were getting completely clean using RG. I've gone back to Original Tide and have no complaints.

As for the sprayer, I too have found the love for liners (I'm using Motherease stay-dry reusable liners) and would suggest that if you are fine with liners you probably don't need to invest in a sprayer.

Oh, I just read you are using cloth wipes with wipes solution - maybe he's sensitive to the wipes solution? Could you try using cloth wipes with just water? We've never used any wipes solution and use cloth wipes exclusively (it's my personal opinion that disposable wipes are junk ) - my baby's never had a rash in 20 months of cloth diapering. Might be worth a shot?

Re: ?'s about rashes, liners, synthetics, and who knows what else. Help Me!!!

Well in my experience night time dipes do smell, they have been on for a while. However (esp at this age) they shouldn't reek -like a toddlers whew! Are you using enough detergant, that may help with the pail stink. As for redness, do you leave your ds coverless at all? When I change my dd I usually let her air out for a bit, just put a prefold under her ( it is also a good time to do EC if you want).

I only use cloth wipes with water from the faucet. I have flannel/terry ( I think- I bought them over two years ago) and they are all super soft from all the washings.

Never used a diaper sprayer. With ds I just used fleece liners and they worked fine.

Re: ?'s about rashes, liners, synthetics, and who knows what else. Help Me!!!

Okay, I'm going to try to address each of your issues. Let me know if I miss anything

Stink - Night time dipes don't have to smell. When we get stink in our night time diapers it just means its creeping in to our whole stash and its time to do a deep clean. Here's my deep clean routine - basically just a soak in hot water and a little more than usual detergent with an agitation before and after the soak.

Diaper Deep Clean Routine

Start with rinsed dipes to get the pee and solids off. With the hottest water you have and double the regular amount of detergent recommended for cloth diapers wash with the highest water level and the longest agitation you can. Leave the lid up so after the agitation is done it can soak for 2-3 hours. Then go back and reset the washer to the beginning of the cycle so it agitates again but close the lid so it drains and rinses. Then keep repeating hot washes and warm or cold rinses until you see no suds in the hot wash.

If you still notice stink do the soak again. If the stink is bad it may take more than one soak to get them good and clean. Make sure you are using a CD safe detergent. Letting dipes soak in anything that has enzymes, vinegar, etc could cause a lot of unnecessary wear on your PUL and elastic.

Try adding a little more detergent to your regular wash routine or even a little to a cold, light wash. That's what it took for me to get rid of stink entirely.

Okay, onto the redness - could be not changing often enough or it could be that he just needs more breathability. Some kiddos can be sensitive to diapers with fleece or suedecloth but I've wondered if its just because the skin can't breathe as well as it can coverless or with wool. If he's still getting red with being in natural fibers and coverless it could be how often you are changing or it could be the ammonia that may be building up in the diapers.

Sprayer - I have a couple thoughts on this. If you are using them and they work that's great! No need for the sprayer...at least not now. If you can get a good deal on one now I would. Once baby starts on solids and starts moving around more liners can shift or bunch up some For me, the less I have that I can run out of and have to buy more of the better!

Hope that helps! Its great you have a night time solution that's working. Lots of moms are loving the flips at night